


The Pits

by DemonDarakna



Category: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Beyblade
Genre: Badass, Funny, Gen, Kai's history, Realistic, Teambuilding, but in Beyblade universe, old fic but still good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-04-04 18:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14026596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonDarakna/pseuds/DemonDarakna
Summary: The beyblade underground. It used to be his battlefield. A side of him that his current team never truly deciphered. And he didn't really want to expose them to it. But now, few months short of eighteen, Kai finds himself traveling down the memory lane to where it all began.





	1. 'Cause if you could live like me …

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old Fanfic I wrote. A more realistic look upon our favourite team. I rarely write fanfics, but I guess maybe some positive stimulation could boost me up again.  
> Written after our favourite SWITCHBLADE song from Beyblade anime.  
> The Pits is a follow up to Street-blader. You don't have to read either one to understand the other. They are both stand-alone.

"Kai?"

Giving no indication that he heard his roommate, Kai kept staring out into the city. He was glad that their financer always picked high floors for their accommodations. The views they ended up with were beautiful to the team – and practical to him for navigating his first few walks around the location. And his wanderings weren't something he would pass up. Ever.  _Things to explore, places to find._

He heard Ray step closer to the window on the railing of which the stoic teen was lounging. Gritting his teeth, Kai mentally prepared himself to be questioned. The beyblade in his hands was squeezed tighter, the attack ring almost cutting through the skin.

"We missed you at diner."

"Not hungry." It was an answer that a few months his junior probably came to expect.

Kai tensed as the body closed in and glanced at the tiger that stepped to the window he occupied, as if curious about the view. Looking out into the night, examining the lights of the buildings around them. Kai noticed that their room was still in the dark. Only one explanation for that: Ray accepted and respected his time alone staring over the city.

"You never are when we arrive somewhere."

Kai stared down at the teenager for a while. Noting the space between his leg on the fence and the hand of the other boy. Just one of the many reasons why he rather had Ray as a roomie in all these years since the BladeBreakers formed. The guy was nosey, that much was obvious, but he was – or tried to be – subtle about it.

The tiger wanted a conversation, but he would not dive into it like Max would. Kai actually considered not taking the bait, but Ray also wasn't prone to one-sided talks like Tyson and Chief were. So, Kai smirked and stared back out over the city. "Too much on my mind."

"Like when you're gonna squeeze in your next excursion?"

Kai's smirk disappeared. His scowl barely visible, but still very much there.

"It's Moscow, Kai. You lived here. What do you think you'll discover?"

Sometimes Kai forgot that their little group has been together off and on for the last four years. It took so much time and energy to follow other guys' hyperactive moods that he sometimes forgot Ray's energy went into different things. More dangerous things. Things like reading people.

"It's not always discovering, Ray. Sometimes it's just checking up on stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

Silence. Ray would know what it means. Drop it or face the consequences. Those can vary according to Kai's mood. Sometimes it can be simple hard truth, other times it could get physical. Kai leaving, following with Ray trying to forcefully stop him and make him talk, the situation ending up in some smaller brawl that would make them not talk and/or glare at each other over the next few days.

Tonight it would probably be the truth.

Still, Ray decided not to risk it. He sighed, and turned back into the room, dropping onto his soft bed face-first.

 _Moscow._ The place made the other guys turn into nervous wrecks whenever they were around Kai. As if he would suddenly lash out. As if he ever did after that first time years ago.

"Is training still on for tomorrow?" came a muffled voice from the mattress.

Subtle. But Kai wasn't an idiot. Ray was asking if he planned to have his little 'excursion' tomorrow and if it would be during the morning, day, evening or night. He wasn't going to grab the bait. "Nine sharp."

A yawn.

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up at eight."

Rustling in the background as the seventeen-year-old changed into his pajamas. They stopped going to the bathroom for it a few years ago. Around the time with the incident where Tyson pulled Kai's shirt off, exposing his heavily scarred back. He had to drive them two times harder for the next month just to stop their annoying questions. Finally, the message settled even into Tyson's hard head and they stopped asking about it.

More muttering as Ray confiscated the small heater and aimed it at his half of the room, turning it on.

"Night," came from the bed.

"Good night, Ray."

He stared out into the city, wondering.

* * *

**=[2 months ago]=**

Cairo. Centre of Egypt. A place where the African tournament was about to happen. The southern hemisphere decided that beyblading could go even more global. So it did.

Bladers here, however, were something of a mystery. Never showing up in the tournaments before. No data. Chief's nightmare. BladeBreakers' tough luck as well, seeing how it was Kenny and his computer or the bit-beast within that came up with most of the strategies. At least, most of the strategies that everyone accepted without too much protest.

No data.

The captain of BladeBreakers knew where to find some.

He didn't bring his team around, though. Didn't want to expose them to what was sure to be a messy sight. The Pits were dirty holes in best of the cities. Kairo's, with all its history and not far from the third-world countries, would be a chaos.

Also, he didn't want to expose himself to their astonishment by his knowledge about places such as these. He could handle them better when they thought he was simply sightseeing. By himself. They were used to that.

So after they finished their tour of one of the great museums, Kai walked off in the other direction without a word. Some protests could be heard from the group he left behind. Like for instance, how this is a city they don't know. Like, how this is a different continent than what they were used to. Like, how he doesn't even know the language. He didn't know Chinese or French or German that well either. He managed it.

Kairo was a different city. Everything was more in the open. The sun made him pull up his hood. He didn't want to get a sunburn. As pale as his skin was. Especially the back of his neck as he cut the lengthy bangs off a month ago. They would grow back fast enough.

The heat was very noticeable. The air was nicer though. Not clean, definitely not clean. But not as dry as he would expect. People were everywhere. Traders were very personal, trying to coax him closer with gifts and whatnot. He was sure the others will be going from this place with full bags of stuffs. Each one of them had a soft spot for something that this place provided. History for Chief. Seemingly friendly people for Tyson. Souvenirs for Max. New style of clothing and perfumes for Hillary. New cuisine[?] for Ray. He smirked at the thought.

Kai stared at the group of kids running around. Offering stuff to tourists. Wanting money for any small favors they pulled: from showing the way to protecting the bags, to translating between the seemingly ignorant seller and the frustrated buyer. Then there were the police. Always in the corners, watching. Usually in twos. Talking amongst each other. Smoking and taking pictures with the visitors. And longer Kai watched, more similarities between them and the kids he noticed. They also asked for money for every small thing. Not as pushy, though, but he still noticed some coins exchange hands. This wouldn't happen in any of the cities they visited so far.

_I wonder._

Kai straightened his back and walked up to the duo lounging in the shadow. As he walked up, they stared at him a bit strangely. They expected a question, but they were also on edge.  _Must be my glare. I really should learn how to turn it off._

"English?" he asked.

One nodded, enthusiastically. "Eng-hlish."

Well. Close enough.

"I'm here for the beyblading tournament."

"Bey …" The policeman #2 was stuck on the word.

The first one said something to him in their native language. They must use some other word for it. Or it was the same, just pronounced differently.

Suddenly the other one started nodding as well. Pointing into the direction of the stadium.

Kai knew where that was, so he shook his head. "No. Not searching for the stadium."

The police officer #2 kept pointing and chattering enthusiastically, but the first one seemed to have figured out what Kai was saying.

"No stadium?"

Kai shook his head. "The Pits."

"Ha?"

Yes, of course. It was probably not called like that here. But it was hard to explain what he wanted without using any long words. He blinked, thinking.

The policeman #2 seemed to have calmed down in the meantime. Now they were both staring at Kai expectantly, waiting for him to tell them what he actually wanted from them.

Kai nodded to himself, bringing out Dranzer and pointing at it. "Beyblade."

They both nodded in unison. Understanding.

Then he pointed at the kids that were playing with a ball on the square. "Street-blading?"

Nothing.

He groaned, then got another idea. Pointing downwards, he tapped the ground with his foot for the emphasis. "Underground." That is what the Pits were called in America.

They stared at him.

"Local. Non-professional."

"Loh-cal?" the first one understood that. "Profee-"

"No." Kai shook his head, getting more annoyed by the second. "No stadium. Local." He tapped the ground again. "Illegal."

Now  _that_  got a reaction from both. They started talking amongst each other, glancing at Kai warily every so. Until now he wasn't sure if he took the right approach. Perhaps the tension between the law and the Pits here was as brutal as in the civilized world. But these police officers didn't look like they were going to arrest him or chase him off. They simply seemed to be explaining to each other what they thought Kai really wanted.

Suddenly the second one nodded and said something to the first. That one turned to Kai, saying "You search for  _Khore_."

Kai nodded and shrugged at the same time. Well it probably was what he was looking for. He couldn't be sure.

"No tourists." That was hit closer to home. "No rules."

_Jackpot._

"One rule," he corrected.

A nod and something in Arabic that sounded like a phrase. It was the right length, though.  _No winners, losers. Only those who finish the game._

He pulled out his wallet and took out two bills. No coins. They seemed to understand what they had to do to get their reward.

The policeman #2 fished through his pockets and pulled out what seemed to be an old bill and something that was once a pencil. The map he drew was barely readable, but Kai recognized some of the landmarks. That was the main market in the corner, he was sure. A bit more of Arabic talk and the first man turned to Kai.

"Show," he pointed at Dranzer, "to beggar here. Corner. Black mark," he pointed at the forehead.

The first guy said something else, and his companion nodded.

"No police when you lose." He pointed at the blue beyblade again, glaring a warning.

Kai smirked. " _If_  I lose." This was another country with different people, but he learned some stuff since the BladeBreakers formed. Even the great power of Kai Hiwatari had its limits. Don't underestimate your opponent. At least not when your blade is at stake. His smile fell as he accepted the piece of paper.  _I am NOT going to think 'thank you, Tyson'._ He growled to himself as he gave the money to his helpers. Nodding at the two adults, he went in search of this  _Khore_  or whatever it was.

_Time to get myself some data._


	2. … Underground

It was ten minutes after the training started when Tyson finally showed up on the yard the team occupied behind the Hotel. It was supposedly a garden, but besides some trees and bushes, not much grew here. The temperature was a bit above freezing and only Kai was in his sleeves top. Others were wearing their jackets, scarves and gloves. Chief had so many layers on his body barely resembled anything human-shaped.

So, when the ‘world champ’ walked out, of course his excuse was that he forgot his hoodie and had to take a long walk back up the stairs to their room. The sugar icing around his mouth and on top of the said clothing told a different story. The cafeteria here supposedly had very good doughnuts.

Kai only glared at him as he ran past, losing count of how many circles he did. Chief kept tabs, so he didn’t really care, letting his body perspire on the cool fresh air and clear his mind.

“Five more minutes and Kai would come up to haunt you down himself,” Chief said. “You better start running. You’re about ten laps behind everyone else.”

“Aw, Chief -”

“Tyson!” Kai called from where he stopped for the first time in the last twenty minutes. Hands on knees, breathing in cold air that froze the back of his throat. “Run now, or run all day!”

A groan. “You’re not running! Stop being a slave-driving hypocrite!”

“Tyson!” Max warned Tyson as he ran first past him then Kai, continuing on his track.

“Kai’s been at it for over twenty minutes,” Chief told the Tyson. “I was having breakfast at 8:30 when he came down, and Dizzy’s been recording his progress ever since.”

“Almost 5 kilometers so far,” the computer piped up on its own.

Kai widened his eyes at that. He _was_ getting better. Then again … _Longer legs._ He was glad that the last growth sprout finally put him above the others again. He was getting increasingly annoyed by the idea that some of them might actually overgrow him. Both of his parents were tall, so it shouldn’t be surprising. Still, he was worried there for a couple of months.

Unfortunately, it would be Tyson he would have to compete to in heights as well. He’s seen the male side of his family. Kai shuddered at the thought of looking up at the human food dispenser.

“Everyone, take a break after this one.”

Cheers all around. A relieved exhale from the world champion.

“Except for you, Tyson. You run your ten laps.”

“Oh, maaaaan!”

“Get moving!”

“Make me!”

Kai gritted his teeth and started towards the boy, who jumped at the deadly glare and a growl that came from deep within the phoenix. Tyson started running, getting away from Kai as fast as he could. He ran into the opposite direction, almost colliding with Ray that was just finishing his last lap.

“Ten laps!” Kai yelled after him.

A groan, but Tyson kept running. Speeding up to show them he was better than everyone else. Stupid, since he obviously just ate. Kai just knew that the doughnut would make a reappearance in the next half an hour. He refused to yell out a warning. Tyson learned the most lessons by living through their consequences himself.

“Kai?” Ray stopped next to him, breathing heavily. Max almost fell down, but caught himself gripping the bench Kenny was sitting on.

“Where’s Hillary?” the blond-haired blader asked looking left and right.

“She’s the one who dragged Tyson out of bed, probably,” Chief said. “Taking a well-deserved rest if you ask me.”

“What are the plans for today?” Ray finally breathed out, sounding more quiet than usual.

“Max and Tyson are training blade movement control.” Kai pointed at the abstract statue at the other end of the park. It had lots of curves and paths that they could use instead of a beydish. “You need to work on your defense and attack transition. I’ll battle you.”

“Uh …” Chief started. “Kai, I literally just fixed your defense ring. You ruined the last one in the tournament and the one before that somewhere on the streets of Cairo.”

“Yeah, Kai. We still don’t know how you managed to shatter it so much, or where you went for that matter,” Max sided with Kenny.

“Brought you back the data, didn’t I?” Kai asked, glaring half-heartedly.

“Yeah, but at what cost! That was the best defense ring I had!” Chief exclaimed.

 _Well, I didn’t expect their blades would have titanium attack rings._ The group he fought was vicious. Their leader was in one of the tournament teams. Kai defeated him in the Pits, but, like Chief said, the cost was a bit high.

“I’m sure my Mom can provide more,” Max intercepted before Kenny would look up at Kai’s glare and probably piss himself from fright.

Silence. Groaning from the background. “Nine more, Tyson!” He motioned to Ray. “Come on, let’s go.”

A sound of feet on gravel. Kai brought out Dranzer, examining the defense ring, determining if it would hold through the upcoming matches. Maybe he should just attack as fast and as strong as he could and hope the battle would be short enough that he wouldn’t have to use defense.

Pondering this, team captain didn’t pay attention at the runner catching up until he was promptly shoved to the side.

He didn’t fall, managing to bend his knee just right to catch himself. Nobody could ever say that Kai Hiwatari’s reflexes were rusty. He growled as he looked up from the half-crouch. Tyson continued his sprint, while at the same time looking over his shoulder, tongue stretched out at Kai.

Now, Tyson could do many stupid things, but Kai would still admit that after last year’s battle, he respected the guy when it came to fights in the beydish.

_I can still respect the guy while maiming him for life at the same time._

He ran after Tyson.

* * *

  **=[12 months ago]=**

“What is this, Kai?”

“Hn. It’s a door, genius.”

There were few things that brought a smile to Kai’s face. Right now, at the serious situation that he was walking into, Bryan’s lack of reply was pure gold. He forced the mask on his face though, and kept it there. Even as the old nature of Kai was gradually cracking around the BladeBreakers, the familiarity of the Blitzkrieg Boyz brought the well-learned tendencies back. Hiding emotions was only one of those.

Tyson’s pet spider-monkey, by the name of Daichi, was just battling Tala. Kai wasn’t too proud to admit that Ivanov had his work cut out for him. Daichi might be small and reckless, but he was talented and naturally strong, unpredictable. Plus, he learned a whole lot in the past few months.

The former world champion on the other hand was probably resting while having his Dragoon fixed. That match with F-Dynasty really took a lot out of the blades and the bladers.

Kai would be damned if he would let himself win with such a despicable advantage.

Kenny, the braniac, was currently fixing Dragoon. And they knew the blade would be going against Dranzer next. He didn’t update his blade much since Egypt, so the data the Chief had was pretty much accurate. He could basically put together a blade that would cut through all of Kai’s defenses and fight against his powerful attacks.

Another advantage/disadvantage that Kai would not stand. Not in the battle of the century that would be coming up. Not in the battle he was preparing his whole life for.

“Where are we going?” Spencer asked this time. Bryan clearly had enough of Kai’s smart-ass replies.

“Just to a place I know.”

It had been three years. Three long years since the last time Kai spun his blade amongst them. Launching himself into a jog, even though the pier wasn’t far. The clock was ticking. Time was not his friend. The sound of his own steps mingled with those of his two followers as Bryan and Spencer tried to keep up. Kai was shorter, but unlike the duo, he knew where they were going. Sure enough, the spot was still popular.

There was a crowd of young people. Children from eight to twenty years. All shuffling around a small portable TV, focusing on the match that Kai just left behind. The face on the screen told him that even though Tala was going a bit crazy, there was no danger of him freezing his opponent into a human icicle like that one time.

The wild child on the other side of the beydish was holding his own rather well. Driving the Wolf insane with his antics, even though Kai’s own team-mate tried to finish the battle as soon and with as much flare as possible, not giving a damn that Kai himself wasn’t present for the second battle. Daichi on the other hand was more considerate to his own partner.

Still, Kai had to hurry this up.

“Hey!”

A couple of loud shushes as the group of street-bladers tried to listen to the commentary. Two of them turned to glare at Kai, ordering him to be silent.

Those eyes turned wide at once.

“Hey, guys!” one of them started, hitting the guy in front of him on the shoulder, accidentally poking him in the ear as his stare remained glued on the newcomer. Yelling and commotion followed. Those in front were forcefully pulled out of their TV-daze. Finally, all heads were turned Kai’s way. Jaws dropped. Hands rubbed at eyes before they looked up again.

“Kai Hiwatari!”

Kai smirked. “The one and only.”

“Well, I’ll be!”

“You know these guys?” Bryan asked the obvious.

Know them? He was the most feared of them just three years back. Before his first official team started. Before he remembered his past. Before that frustrating thing called conscience bloomed within him. Before he started to care.

But he didn’t intent to break his currently speaking Japanese just so he could answer Bryan in a language the old Demolition Boy understood.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the match? You know, at the stadium!” One that Kai remembered from _the before_ yelled. “Finale!” As if he didn’t know that his destiny was urgently knocking on his time.

“Hn. I need to even out the field.” And he pulled out Dranzer, aiming his launcher at the group. “Battle me, now!”

Some of them launched without another question. Reflexes as strong as any kid’s that was trained in the Abbey. Followed by freshmen and those that were runts just a few years ago; all that wanted to be a part of the game even if they didn’t know the stakes.

“For what?” one of the older-ones asked. Kai recognized the leader of the street-bladers group that were rivaling the BladeSharks in his time. Before the most feared team of street-bladers claimed their territory and exiled the competition to the other part of the city. Clearly, without him around, things returned back to normal.

Kai thought about the question asked. How bad would it be if he returned to his old sins one last time. “I need blade parts. The best you’ve got.”

The old rival smirked. “Oh, we’ve got that.” He pulled out his own blade and aimed it at Kai. “Even have some in your color.”

Kai didn’t doubt it. Rich kids usually thought that they could beat street-bullies with just a cool new blade. The equipment was nothing if you didn’t know how to use it to its full potential. Kai’s knowledge was wider than ever before, thanks to Max and his parents’ ranting about it for the last two years.

Yes, Kai didn’t only coach the what-used-to-be BladeBreakers. He learned a lot from them as well.

“I’ll take those off your hands, then,” he said sweetly, knowing what will follow.

A group laugh. “Kai, I don’t care if you become the world champion in the next hour. This is the streets. Nothing is free.” The boy motioned to those around, and now every single person on the pier had their blades directed at Kai. Some of those already spinning were even picked up and readied again. “And there is no fair play. If you want that, go back to your fancy stadium.”

“Kai …” Spencer warned behind him, obviously distancing himself a few steps, seeing as how he was also in the line of fire of around thirty blades. He had no idea what the present were saying. Spencer didn’t understand Japanese.

“No, this is exactly what I need,” Kai admitted, still sticking to the local language. _No fair play here, so I can make one against Tyson. He deserves that much._ I _deserve that much._ “If anyone beats me, he can go battle current world champ instead of me.”

Looks were shared. Grins broke out. Evil sparkles in those eyes. Daichi and Tala were yelling from out of the TV-speakers as they crackled under the frequency that the cheap technology couldn’t handle. Kai needed to hurry this up.

“So, let’s GO!”

He shot Dranzer out, fast as a bullet.


	3. Lonely sights and lonely sounds

Tyson ended up with the face inside a cold pond. Just his face though, seeing as Kai was making sure to have a good grip on the rest of the boy as he dipped him in. The edges of the pond were frozen, which meant the water itself couldn’t be of a very pleasant temperature. Tyson tried to save his cap, turning his head up in the process, getting a mouth-full of slimy freezing water, successfully washing away the acid aftermath of a discarded doughnut.

Other BladeBreakers protested, but all Kai had to do was glare in their direction, and they shut up.

He pulled Tyson up. “Had enough?”

There was a splutter that involved something suspiciously similar to a word that was _not_ a “yes”. Sounded like another original nickname Tyson came up with for his captain.

“Guess not,” Kai dipped the holding teenager down again. Tyson’s grip on his cap was better this time, so Kai had to lower him even more to get to the desired effect.

It was a good workout. Kai’s arms and abdomen really burned. Tyson was heavy.

“He’s going to get sick,” Chief commented quietly.

“What, again?” Hillary asked huffing.

“I’m just saying -”

Kai looked at him and the boy shut up just like that.

“It’s true, though,” Max muttered. “That water is cold and doesn't look really sanitary.”

Kai shrugged. “Been swimming through worse.”

“You had?” Hillary asked. Max and Chief had their mouth opened in a surprised ‘o’. Ray scowled, staring in the other direction.

Kai shrugged. “Hn. Ice swimming.” Clearly a surprising information for all of them. Probably had something to do with them pulling him out of the ice-cold lake three years ago. He lifted Tyson up and asked his routine question: ““Had enough?”

A cough. “Y-yeah.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yeah, Mr I’m-better-than-thou-coz-I-am … gurgle, gurgle.”

_He really never learns, does he?_

Five seconds passed in silence.

“What-what’s _ice-swimming_?” Hillary asked, a bit taken aback by Kai’s determination to get Tyson on the right track of mind.

“Is it what it sounds like?” Max asked.

“You break the ice and take a dip,” Kai shrugged. _A bit like that,_ he mused looking at Tyson, _only right way up._

“Why would someone do that?” Draciel’s blader was shocked at the idea.

Kenny wiped Dizzy’s screen with his sleeve. “It’s tradition in northern countries. It can either have to do with sauna treatment that is considered healthy for some strange reason. Could be simple sport. Or even, here in Russia, the celebration of Christian holiday.”

_Also one of the punishments for losing in the Abbey. Or training. Depends on the day._

Others looked at Kai, who stayed passive to the live documentary, lifting Tyson up again.

“Enou-kh!” the Dragon spluttered.

“Enough, what?”

A cough. More spitting. “Enough, Hiwatari Kai, Oh, Dear Leader of Mine!”

Kai lifted his eyebrows, but moved Tyson above dry ground before dropping him unceremoniously onto it. _Did I just learn the old dog a new trick?_

“It was just a push coz you were being so bossy at this ungodly hour of the morning, you big -” Tyson looked up and found his brain, closing his mouth with a click. Kai was staring at him intently, daring him to finish the sentence.

Something flew past Kai and hit Tyson in the face. A white towel. The boy started rubbing vigorously, stubbornly staying seated on the cold hard dirt. Messing up his already messy hairdo. At least he stopped dripping.

“So, can we go back to training now?” Ray asked from behind Chief. He was suspiciously quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Probably being careful not to get on Kai’s bad side. They were sharing a room. Not that Kai ever ordered Ray around in the safety of their privacy. He respected the time designated for relaxation and rest. He was told however that his mood affected Ray’s own the most. The guy was sensitive about surrounding aura.

Ray took too much to heart, Kai thought. Not so much as Max did, but still plenty. 

“I don’t know,” Kai answered, looking down at Tyson. “Can we?””

Tyson peeked up from underneath the towel. “Sure, Oh Mighty Wise Boss.”

Kai decided to ignore the muffled sarcasm.

“So, Tyson and Max – blade control at the statue,” Kenny summed up, standing. “Kai and Ray – working on Driger attack/defense-transition.”

“There’s a dish over there,” Hillary pointed towards the tree not far from the cafeteria exit.

Kai motioned to Ray to follow him. “Let’s go.”

“Be careful with the defense ring!” Kenny called after them as the rest moved towards the abstract sculpture in the center of the park.

_Yeah, yeah. Whatever._

Kai led Ray to the spot, noting the silence between them. No chuckles at Tyson’s expense before, no comment now. Not even a mouthed idea of how they should bite into their designated workout.

 _Could just be morning and cold getting to him._ As soon as they would start to battle, Ray would snap out of it and get back to his normal self. Adrenaline pumping.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Three … two … one … Let it rip!””

As he unleashed Dranzer upon his team-mate, something became obvious, though. Ray’s head was not on the training. At all.

* * *

**=[1 year and 2 months ago]=**

United States of America. The Pits – or Underground as it was sometimes called here – were never hard to find. Being teamed up with the Blitzkrieg Boyz gave a person lots of privacy. They didn’t ask each other where they were going as one was leaving their rooms. They didn’t wonder when one would come back. They were a team merely because it was convenient for them. Abbey did that to a person – made them individually perfect soldiers. The others knew that Kai would return before the tournament matches began.

So when said boy disappeared after they landed in New York City, nobody gave it much thought. And he was left to his devices.

He only had to walk the slummiest street in the neighborhood and listen to the noises. An hour later, he came across the mix of cheering, sneering, arguing and yelling. He followed it, drawn to the commotion like a moth to the light.

In a basketball court, squeezed between the apartment buildings, a crowd of unruly kids gathered. They weren’t playing basketball. There was a makeshift beydish in the middle of the group, built out of discarded pieces of metal and wood. Empty soda cans were used to make the blading surface more interesting.

The winner of the current battle squealed in delight, making Kai’s ears hurt.

The boy picking up his blade huffed in annoyance. “If I hadn’t lost my former blade to Rick, I could beat you no problem!”

The girl laughed. “Yeah, but you did! Loser!” Her blade was red and purple, reminding Kai of the matching outfit she wore. She even had red and purple strands in her otherwise black hair. “I don’t see the big deal about it. I battled Rick plenty of times and he never won!”

“He probably went easy on you, because you’re a girl.”

The girl paused her mirth for a moment. Then burst out laughing, making Kai wince at her tone. “As if! Rick doesn’t care about the blader. As long as he wins!”

“You won against Rick?” one of the younger ones asked.

“You ‘betcha! He even said we’re gonna have a rematch as soon as the world championships are over.”

Many of the present snorted in disbelief.

“Rick ain’t so tough! He’s a hot-head. A bit unpredictable at times, but as long as you keep your own head cool and your blade stable, you can outsmart him.” Everybody stared wide-eyed at her. She let them bask for a minute, before grinning evilly. “So, who’s next?”

Another, younger boy lifted his hand and stepped forward reluctantly. But Kai strode right past him until he was standing in front of the dish, staring at the girl.

“Fight me.”

The girl giggled. “And who might you be, cutie-pie?”

Kai ignored the nickname. “Does it matter?”

“I haven’t seen you around before. And that accent of yours …”

“Well, I’m not from _around_.”

“Tourist?”

Kai shrugged, not answering. Let her think what she will. There were murmurs right at the back of the crowd where older kids hung out. He heard his name, but obviously no one was enthusiastic to inform the annoying girl that she was facing a tournament fighter.

“Did you lose your group? Ran away from your parents?” someone else laughed from close-by. They were promptly ignored.

 _If my parents were still around, they’d probably run away from_ me _._

“So, what’s your name?”

Kai growled. “What is this? Twenty questions?”

“Japan,” someone in the crowd muttered. “He has the similar accent as my grandmother.”

“Nah, those _r_ -s are too hardcore.”

“Pretty good English, though.”

They were beybladers. Probably following the current championships like crazy. You didn’t have to be smart to connect his heritages and trace it back to him.

“Well, if you don’t want to battle,” Kai shrugged and turned around.

“No, wait!”

He tried so hard to hide the smirk that formed on his face. He mostly succeeded. Probably. Maybe. He turned back around, lifting his eyebrow at her.

“If I win, can I have your number?”

Now his eyebrows lifted on their own accord. It wasn’t hard to fake a phone-number. Hell, it wasn’t hard to give her Bryan’s instead. But the fact that this girl was able to stare at his serious face with his blue face-paint on and everything, his grip strong on Dranzer, in the back alley of the slums, and all she asked for the winning was his number … That kinda threw him off. She saw his beyblade, that much he was sure off; it was the first thing her eyes flew to as he approached the dish. Yet, she didn't ask for it.

Either his genes were doing something really funny, really fast, shaping him into an astonishingly handsome man, making this blader’s mind fuzz, or she didn’t have all her priorities straight. He really hoped it was the second. Fangirls were annoying enough when they were too scared to approach him. The mix of the races was obvious on his being. Round face of an Asian. Nose and forehead of a Russian. Lips and eyes somewhere in between. Skin never a shade darker than pale.

But back to the problem at hand. He had no doubt that he would win. Still, better safe than sorry. “You don’t even know my name.”

“Okay, number and a name.”

He glared. No idea if he was mad at himself for mentioning it or at her for abusing it.

“Fine,” he said finally. _Definitely give her Bryan’s number._

“And if you win, you get a kiss,” she said sweetly.

He paused at readying his launcher. Looking up through his bangs. Seeing her stupid grinning face. “If I win, I get information.” It was how he usually worked. A win for information. If he lost, he also got the said information, just indirectly and a bit imperfect. This girl beat Rick. Fighting her will tell him the way she moved and her strength, then he can deduct from there.

He was ready to go, but she kept stalling. “What kind of information?”

If he told her that he knew Rick, that might give her the last dot to connect. Dranzer’s chip was small and if he didn’t call the phoenix out, his identity might remain unknown throughout the battle. So far, he was a strange tourist wandering around the city. “Why don’t I tell you after I win?”

She snorted very unlady-like, finally placing her blade on her launcher. “As if.”

The little boy that was the referee in former matches, lifted his hand. “Both ready? Three … two … one … LET IT RIP!”


	4. Could you fight the darkness all around?

It was late afternoon when Kai walked up to the Chief, who switched between their training teams in intervals. Ray was being moody, but before Kai could do the lecturing that would actually stick, the guy had to smooth things out in his own head. _Give him time_. If nothing else, they shared the room. He can handle Ray’s problems in the evening.

Max and Tyson were both having difficulties reaching the top of the abstract statue. Smooth marble surface lacked friction and grip for the blade.

“I can’t do this anymore!” Tyson groaned, catching Dragoon and falling back on his ass, stubbornly staying there. “It’s impossible!”

“But you must!” Hillary said. She just came from the cafeteria with a big plate of sandwiches. Tyson looked up, ignoring the food for once, glaring first at the girl and then at Kai. Kai stared right back, never being the one to break the eye-contact first.

“Every time I get to that loop over there, it throws me out!” Tyson complained. “And if I don’t shoot hard enough, it doesn’t pass the first bend!”

“Pretty complicated,” Max agreed.

“That’s the point,” Chief exclaimed. “You need to have perfect control at all times.”

“Yeah, but no one can make this track!” Tyson said, his eyes non-blinking as he stared up at Kai, growling under his breath.

Kai knew the symptoms of the upcoming fight. First, there would be glares. Then, if he dared to turn around and leave them to their devices, Tyson would explode. If he said anything that could be considered in the near proximity of an insult, Tyson would explode. If he looked away at someone else, Tyson would explode. If he tried to take a break himself, Tyson would explode.

Tyson could be sulking for days. They didn’t have days. He already had Ray to deal with. And Tyson never sulked in a manner anyone else of the group did. Others kept their troubles to themselves. Only showing that they had a problem during beybattle. Tyson always made it all out war on the world.

There was only one way to avoid it. Redirect the focus of his stubborn hate. An easy task really, at least when it came to the object of said hate being either a move he couldn’t master or team captain himself.

Kai frowned, reaching for his beyblade, setting it in the launcher. He risked taking his eyes off the glare merely to aim. And he let Dranzer go. Landing his blade on the smooth surface easily.

“You can’t lose focus for a moment,” he said loud and clear as Drazner rolled over the first hill and then made the dramatic, but smooth turn at the first difficult bend.

Sure enough, it took focus that almost made his head hurt. He took a page out of his own book and cleared his mind of all the plans he had for the day. Showing Max how to launch in a better way. Getting Ray to talk. Making sure the Chief analyzed the right data. Thinking of the slight change in the schedule he had to enforce on Hillary. All without anybody realizing that his head was somewhere else. And now, he had to let it all go. His head’s focused on making the right turns with the right speed at the right time.

The bend Tyson whined about came next and he forcibly slowed Dranzer down, leaning it right with the path. Going up the spiral that would probably cause Tyson some problems once he overcame his current one. Dranzer almost vertically to the ground. Speeding up so the gravity wouldn’t take over at the loopy part. He reached the top, exhaling his tension through his nose.

Kai mentally counted to ten, before opening his hand and calling Dranzer back.

“There,” he said turning to his team. They all stared at him with jaws on the ground. All, except Ray who would probably do the same set of moves with ease, but was currently leaning on the low wall, staring at the plane flying overhead. Kai tore his eyes from the tiger. “Hard, but not impossible.”

“Wooow,” Max said loudly, staring at Kai with his I-can’t-believe-I-know-this-guy face.

“Okay, if Sourpuss can do it, so can I!” Tyson exclaimed, jumping back to his feet, already aiming Dragoon at the statue.

“I brought food, guys!” Hillary announced to get everybody’s attention. Irritation coloring her voice when no one proclaimed her the savior of the world for her thoughtful act.

“No time, Hil! Need to beat Kai’s time!”

_Redirection of focus: done a bit too well._ Kai couldn’t help but smirk.

He looked down at Max, who was turning his head between sandwiches and Tyson, shocked by his best friend’s behavior.

“Eat your food,” Kai said loudly. “Max, you and I are having launch practice after you finish.”

“What’s wrong with my launching?” Max asked after he swallowed the first bite.

_Oh, where to begin._

Fortunately, Kenny went to full on explaining the angles and force Max should improve on himself. Kai let them be and walked off, past Ray, to get himself a cup of good-old Russian coffee.

When he came back, Max was waiting for him. Tyson eating his sandwich with gusto behind, muttering nonsense between swallows. Obviously, he still hadn’t managed to get his blade to the top.

“So, how do I improve?” Max asked, seemingly relaxed, but Kai saw his tense posture.

_Nervous kid._ “Chief.”

“Yes, Kai?”

“Stop monitoring Tyson, we need you here. The idiot doesn’t need supervision to get the blade to its destination.”

Sure enough, Tyson didn’t even notice that most of the group moved away from his ministrations. Hillary stayed though, vigilant of Tyson’s yelling and aiming. Sometimes his shot completely missed the statue, once almost decapitating a child nearby. Kai was ready to give him hell for that, but the girl was on it, turning the hothead down a notch.

Kai turned to Max. “So, show me how you launch your blade!”

Max did so, shrugging as Draciel landed at the spot in front of him. “Did it that way since forever.”

Kai grunted. “Well, forever is over now.”

He stepped up to Max, making him stretch out his hand and fingers. The green gloves with two fingers was became something of a trademark for Max.

“Set up your launcher.”

Obeying, Max held out the mentioned object, his other hand reflexively going to the cord. Draciel was still spinning on the ground, making the launcher seem that much emptier.

Kai examined the grip, taking out his own launcher and held it up. He released Dranzer upon Draciel, ignoring the blades as he looked into Max’s eyes. “See the difference.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got different start than I do. I’m defense, and you’re attacking blader.”

“Not the cord-pull, Max.”

“Kai’s right,” Chief piped up from behind his computer. “His hold is much more stable.”

“Hn.” He motioned for Max to get ready again, then nudged at his hand with his own. Max yelped at the surprising move. The object in the blond’s hand slipped before he gripped it tight again. “That shouldn’t happen.”

“I didn’t know you were gonna push me.”

“Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Kenny spoke from where he sat. “Your hold needs to be solid, like Draciel.”

“Again,” Kai motioned and Max went back to it. Now more certain. His posture stronger. Kai could see in his eyes that he was ready to stand his ground. He nudged the hand again. It moved, but the direction in which the blade would be shot at stayed the same.

Kai nodded his approval.

“Now fingers.”

A victorious yell came from where they left Tyson.

Not half a second later, a curse word in Japanese echoed throughout the park.

Kai looked over his shoulder, seeing the champ punching the spiral part of the statue. Hillary was turning red next to him, embarrassment and anger boiling over.

“What did _that_ mean?” Max asked wide-eyed, staring at Tyson as well, before looking at increasingly nervous and stuttering Kenny.

Kai growled deep in his throat. “Nothing intelligent.” If the American didn’t know the meaning of that particular word, he sure as hell wasn't going to tell him. Instead, he opted at grabbing Max’s wrist just as Hillary started pummeling the offending person. “Now focus.”

And so they went on. With the help of Chief they made Max launch Draciel over and over again. Correcting the angles, strength, grip and speed of the launch.

After a while, they called Ray into play as well. The older boy didn’t look up to it, but at Kai’s glares he finally got over himself enough to be Max’s target of attack. At one point, initiating engine gear right at the launch, Max managed to send Driger out of the circle before his own blade even landed.

Kai only nodded in approval.

Now, all he had to do was handle Ray. 

* * *

**=[3 years and 3 months ago]=**

Hong Kong. China.

Finding the Pits has rarely been easier. One just needed to track down a simple street-blader, and ask. If they mouthed off, you beat him in the battle, and that was it.

Going through the Pits has been a bit more difficult. BladeBreakers were a new thing, so at least nobody recognized him. He could use Dranzer as much as he wished.

No, the difficult part was asking for the right information.

Ray Kon, the tiger in their team, has been nervous ever since they arrived. He seemed to know what was where, so it was obvious he had a history with the place. But unlike Tyson, who was all over the place in Japan, or Max who was an open book by himself, Ray was a mystery. And Kai didn’t like mysteries if they weren’t his own.

Thankfully, these people spoke English. BladeBreakers took to talking the language as Max only knew partly Japanese language, and Ray only just started picking up on it. So far, the guy knew words that Tyson used the most: “food”, ““training”, “beyblade”, “grandpa”, and a bunch of nicknames he titled Kai with.

So for the first win, Kai asked the first question: “Ray Kon. Ever heard of him?”

Heads shaking in a no.

_Great._

It took mowing through no less than five before he hit the right blader with the right knowledge. “Neko-jin.”

“Ah, they come from the mountains up west.”

“Any bladers among them?”

“White Tigers are going for the championship this year.”

_Suspicious name._

A bit more prodding and he got the info on the team members. Lee, was the leader. With his sister Mariah on the attack. Gary was the brute who no-one really wished to face for fear of a physical attack in anger. Their newest and youngest member’s name was Kevin. They were all neko-jins from the same village. They were supposed to have another member but he ditched them at the last moment.

“What can you tell me about this guy?”

“He took the village’s most famous bit-beast and skipped towns. He battled the streets a few times.”

“Yeah, I took him on!”

Promptly, Kai turned towards him, forcing his own stare off the glare mode. Glares usually scared people into silence. Useful at times, but not right now. “Tell me about his blade.”

“White.”

“And the bit-beast?”

“Form of the tiger. I can’t remember the name, but it started with Dri-something.”

_So, Ray ran away from home._ For some reason that surprised Kai. The guy looked and acted like a model of good, reliable team-mate. Accepting strangers. Not being bothered by the inside war between Tyson and team captain. Ray followed Kai’s orders wholly and without complaint, while being part of many conversations between others when they were in a language he understood. Somehow sticking to both sides, even as they tried to pull apart. And he did this from a distance, even as Max tried to achieve the same by forcefully pulling the captain and champion together, initiating an argument instead of peace more often than not. Ray was completely comfortable being on both sides, while not being in the war-zone. Not even fazed by the growing danger of the nuclear outburst inside the team that was getting closer to the breaking point with each day. _Like a guy is used to tensions._  

There was something off by the way the local boy was telling this. Kai barely had to ask anything. All the information was out so easily. “Someone else asked you these questions before.”

It was a statement, but the boy nodded all the same. “White Tigers. They tried to track him down not two months ago. Seemed pissed and determined to find the traitor.”

Kai gripped Dranzer tighter, trying not to think about the last said word. _Traitor._ Yeah, he was one of those. Sticking around just to get the bit-beasts for his grandfather’s schemes. Whatever they were. But obviously he wasn’t the only one with history in his team.

_This is going to be a looong championship._

Turning around he walked out of the alley. Being the leader of their pathetic new group, he had better start doing his job properly, if he intended to keep them whole for long enough.

_And I bet my blade that they’re already in trouble._


	5. No way up …

Night requested the room’s lights. Yellow-white, that made everything that produced the shadow in the room stand out.

Kai looked into the mirror that was on their small closet, frowning at the smudged face-paint. He really needed to get a better brand of this thing. Ever since he started buying this one, he found smudges of it on his fingers almost daily.

Lifting up the cloth, he paused as the door of the room opened and closed. Ray finally decided to stop pacing the courtyard. Kai pursed his lips and started rubbing at his markings.

His teammate was silent through most of the day. And while the guy was never as talkative as others could be, he always added something to every conversation.

When Kai told him to get serious during training, he saw the tiger focus, and things went better from there on. But only in the beydish. When Chief presented him with results, Ray just shrugged, waited for Kai’s approval, then walked off.

Now, Kai could normally wait a few days for things to blow over. But he had no idea what was up and how it could affect the battle in their tournament. The stress _always_ showed in one’s battles. He trained himself hard, but even he couldn’t fake Dranzer reacting to his mood. When Tyson was stressed, he became even more reckless than usual, completely passing over that fine line he always managed to walk so skillfully – or luckily, Kai wasn’t ready to call all of Tyson’s wins skill. Max became a mellow thing, holding back even in defense. Ray … Ray became snappy - first, he would draw back, being on defense; but as soon as one would mention his lack of focus or ask him what was wrong, he would attack, trying to throw the other blade out of the dish, even if his own followed right behind. 

Tournament was in five days. BladeBreakers didn’t have time for things to blow over.

Even now as Kai watched his movements in the mirror, Ray seemed to be withdrawn. Sitting on the bed as if he was mourning his long lost pet. Staring at his own feet as if they held the answer to his problem.

“Ray,” Kai said softly, examining the blue-stained wipes in his hand, secretly glancing in the mirror to see the other’s reaction.

Sure as snow in Russia, Ray was on his feet. Throwing his traveling bag on the bed and rustling in it, as if he hasn’t unpacked the necessary yesterday. “Yeah, Kai?” came the muffled sound, almost drowned out by the stuff being placed out and back into the bag.

Kai sighed, tracing the barely visible scar on his cheek with his finger. It was merely a white line now. Has been for years. A person wouldn’t notice it if they weren’t looking for it. But it was a reminder from the Abbey. All four of them. And he always covered them up with blue color to make sure he didn’t forget. Paint turning the deformations of the punishment into signs of strength. He would have to stop wearing it someday, though, and he hoped people wouldn’t notice them then. He’ll have to learn to carry himself so people wouldn’t fuss about it even if they did notice. So far, BladeBreakers were blind to them. Even Ray who was the one who saw Kai without the paint almost every day. It was completely possible that they were too small now, as he grew up. They seemed huge when he was eight. Or maybe they all noticed them but never said anything.

Both options were fine with Kai.

If Ray would be in his usual good mood, he would repeat the question already, seeing as Kai hasn’t replied. _As if I didn’t have proof enough._

“So, anytime you want to deal with that problem of yours …”

“What problem?” The squeak that came out of the tiger’s throat at this question made Kai want to roll his eyes at him.

“I don’t know, Ray,” he said, wiping at the last of the marks. “You tell me: _what problem_?”

“There is no problem.”

Kai looked up into the mirror, seeing the tiger stare back at him. Garnet red met gold. Kai gave him the look he knew Ray would recognize. The annoyed look that told the guy he knew Ray was trying to bullshit his way out of this. And it wasn’t working. “Your blading was sloppy …”

“I fixed it when you told me!”  

Kai snorted at that. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t hear this much hogwash out of Ray since the tiger told the nervous restaurant waiter that their group won’t cause any problems with strange orders. Tyson was in their group. The poor man was openly crying by the end of his shift.

“… you’ve been sulking though the whole day …”

“Well, Max was three times more hyper than usual.”

“Max got his hands on the jelly-and-chocolate-filled donuts with sugar glazing after the training.” Kai seriously expected an explosion at some point in the afternoon.

“Look, Kai …” Pause. “Just …” Deep sigh and a shake of his head. “Don’t.”

Kai thought about objecting. Instead, he shrugged and went back to his evening routine, holding off the toothbrush and the visit to the bathroom. It was an old maneuver he pulled that usually got Ray talking if he had anything to say.

Sure enough, five minutes later. “Kai?”

“Yeah,” he simply replied, pulling on his baggy sleeping shirt.

“D-did you ever … just want to leave the tradition behind? And skip countries or something?”

Kai shrugged, throwing himself on bed, leaning on the wall and staring at Ray’s back. “Depends. In what context?”

“My village,” Ray muttered. He turned around and sat down on the fluffy mattress, elbows on his thighs, staring at the ground between his knees.

Ray started losing his baby-fat, making his face features seem sharper than before. Something Kai would never achieve. But Ray would also probably end up the smallest of the four bladders. Not short, just … small. Leaner, more catlike. He also didn’t have any trouble keeping up with his body’s changes. Unlike others, he kept being graceful as ever. Unlike Tyson. Kai tried his best, but even he stumbled over his own feet sometimes, correcting his mistake immediately so it went unnoticed. It was annoying, though.

The captain said nothing. Waiting for the neko-jin to continue on his own.

“They … they want me to marry Mariah. It’s kinda predetermined. Has been since always. She’s the village-leader’s daughter and I am chosen to be the next in line. Lee as my right-hand-man.” Ray trailed off.

Kai waited and listened.

“It’s not that I don’t exactly love Mariah. I mean, I’m the luckiest guy out there. The future village leader! Who wouldn’t want that? They chose me because of my traits, saw the wisdom in me, saw the spirit. Gave me Driger and all. It’s just …” He looked through the closed window at the city. With the light turned on inside, all he probably saw was the room reflecting back. “I don’t know if I want to.”

Suddenly, he growled and jumped to his feet. “Argh, I am so ungrateful!” Turning his back on Kai, going back to packing-unpacking.

Kai watched the tense back-muscles, lifted shoulders, uncertain posture as Ray tried not to run from the room and away. Far away.

“You should follow what your elders say,” he simply said, looking at the window himself.

Sure enough, all he could see was the reflection of the room; Ray as he was packing. The tiger, now pausing his process, stared at the bed in front of him, jaw clenched. His hand closed up into a shaking fist. Ray opened his mouth to say something, but Kai was faster.

“Or, you know … You could chose not to.”

Ray’s back straightened so fast that Kai couldn’t help but smirk. Slowly, the younger blader turned around, looking at Kai with face of confusion and awe.

_I keep showing them that I care about their opinions since our first tournament, yet they always seem so surprised._

“B-but … but …” Ray started, his mouth opening and closing in shock. Clearly not expecting such a reply form his overly-disciplined leader.

Kai shrugged in reply, “It’s what I did.”

Ray’s eyes widened, finally getting it. “Your grandfather.”

Kai’s expression was without humor. When Ray slumped down onto his bed again, Kai could feel himself becoming more honest with his smile.

They stayed like that for a while. Silence stretched. Kai could feel Ray’s eyes on him, even as he himself stared at the empty space on the ceiling. Something rustled and he looked back down, noticing one of the Ray’s towels that slid off the bed to the floor. He looked at the cloth, then at Ray. The tiger didn’t tear his eyes away from his captain. And Kai noticed why. Ray was staring at him a bit too intensely. Eyes fixed on his face, but not his eyes.

The damn light was too strong. Too bright. It made every small crack in the room jump out of its background. Every small individual line was visible. Kai’s skin was pale, but his scars were paler. And he just rubbed off his war-paint, meaning that his checks were probably still red from the care. And the four healed cuts on his face were probably like neon signs above a nightclub.

He turned his inquiring look into a glare and Ray glanced away, having the decency to look ashamed for staring.

Kai sighed. “Listen, Ray,” he said, trying to sound stern, but found his voice way too soft to pull that off right now, “’cause I’m only going to say this once: you can follow your idea of a dream, or you can follow orders. Both paths have consequences. It’s not a question of who you trust more to decide about your life – yourself or your elders. The real question is: with which consequences are you willing to face?”

Ray looked up, this time his eyes searching Kai’s own. He seemed confused, but determined to learn more. It was exactly why Kai rather talked to the tiger than anyone else. The tiger was sure to listen. He looked ready to punch himself through the wall of puzzlement just to get exactly what the other one was trying to tell him.

And like with beyblading, Kai was ready to show Ray what he meant. “Do you want to be respected by default and stay tucked away in some backwater village you’ll be forced to call home? Or would you rather go out there, earn respect with your own actions, doing the things you want to do and settle wherever you wish?”

Ray blinked, understanding. But then, “Is that what happened with you?”

It was a small voice that came out. Like the one that first spoke, back when Ray was still wondering if Kai was ready to listen. But this time it wanted more. The other one was scared of asking, scared he crossed some kind of line. Kai never talked about himself. Not that he didn’t want to – he didn’t have any claims about it since that Russian tournament three years back – he just saw no need to speak of it. He had it tucked inside his head, knowing it happened, learning from it. And others respected his privacy, for which he was grateful.

So, he shrugged, looking back up at the crack-patterns on the ceiling. “You know what happened to me. You were there.”

“I saw what happened _to you_ ,” Ray’s voice was stronger now; back to conversing. Ready to argue his right while still accepting other’s opinion. “I do not presume to know what went on inside that head of yours, though.”

“Hn.” Kai was pleased with the comment. It showed that others learned something in all these years of having him as a captain. _Never presume you are completely on top of the situation._

He smirked as he noticed the silence that followed. Ray prodded no more, but was patiently waiting for an answer in case one was coming.

Finally, deciding, Kai pulled his legs to him, sitting cross-legged and closing his eyes to better form the words he wanted to say. “Black Dranzer was the path to ultimate power. There is no question that I would be undisputed champion with it. Not even Tyson would have any mind to argue with that once he saw me reach the top with ease.” He paused, opening his eyes, following the stain on the far wall with his gaze. “But to truly wield it, I would have to break you all and take your bit-beasts.” He looked at Ray then, making sure the other understood the weight of the fact. “Grandfather expected me to do this. Boris expected me to do this. Black Dranzer expected me to do this. Hell, even I expected myself to do this.”

Blinking, Ray nodded, pulling himself back to the middle of his bed and folded his legs, mirroring Kai’s move.

“I was trained my whole life for it. Everything lead to that moment. And the whole championship was planned for me to get to know you, just so I could betray you at the end.”

Eyes widened and Kai saw Ray fidget with the covers he was sitting on.

_Chills._ Ray was on the short end of the plan that went on for half a year and he didn’t even realize it.

Kai shrugged at the notion. “Failure was not an option. Everything was preplanned. Even the loss and gaining of my memory. Me finding Black Dranzer. Me leaving BladeBreakers and becoming a part of the Demolition Boyz.”

Ray bit his lip. “So, what happened?”

Kai could have laughed. Wasn’t it obvious. “This damn team happened, that’s what.”

The other furrowed his forehead. Confused again. The look he gave Kai through, like he was on the verge of arguing. He insulted the team, and while a few years ago, Ray would have let it slide, this wasn’t the case now. Kai felt ridiculously proud at the notion.

As he saw his roommate’s mouth opening to retort, he cut him off. “The consequences for disobeying Boris or my grandfather were obvious. I would lose everything. I would become nothing.”

The golden orbs lost a bit of the fight. Pity.

Kai hated pity.

“But none of us expected you to fight back in such a way.”

Ray snorted. “What, were we supposed to just roll on our backs and give up?” Kai saw that he was angry with him again. Resentment that Kai had once thought so little of them.

_No._ “Not what I mean.” He sighed, breaking eye contact again, finding room’s reflection in the window so much more interesting. “I knew you guys would make a scene. That’s why I got you out onto that lake. So, nobody would see you lose.” Somehow he still wished to save BladeBreakers face in front of their fans back then. He was their leader at one point. It would be an insult to himself if they lost it in front of thousands of fans.

Ray had a different mind. “We don’t care about losing our honor!”

Kai smirked, looking back at him. “Well, I know that NOW.” He had nothing BUT honor and respect back then. He didn’t know people _could_ function without them. “You guys seemed more worried about getting me back than actually winning against me.”

Ray nodded sternly. “You are our friend.”

_Now if that doesn’t warm the heart,_ he thought sarcastically. Kai never gave out compliments easily and he didn’t require them in return. He knew where he stood as should the others. He would expect such a direct proclamation from Max.

But this right here. This determination and certainty of the statement was what tore Kai away from Biovolt’s hold. They never predicted that Kai would become part of something more than a team - that he would have friendship. Hell, Kai never thought it would happen. Not until he saw three hands offered up on the lake where he would drown. There were no friends in the Abbey. Only alliances. And those could always be broken with the right persuasion.

Nobody could expect the BladeBreakers to do what they did. For Tyson to battle just to snap Kai out of his power-hungry daze, instead of actually winning. For Ray to fight for Driger and others as if it was his own lifeline. For Chief to chip, daring to snap at Kai for the first time. For Max to show up from nowhere and risk himself to save his team. Kai sure as hell didn’t expect them to pull out Dranzer, still whole, and then sick the old blade on its former master. As if it could make a difference in the fight. He didn’t expect for Dranzer to gain new heights in strength just to reach him.

Kai stared at Ray steadily. “And because of your actions, I didn’t just see the consequences of failing Biovolt. I saw the consequences of obeying it.”

He reached over the sheets, where he picked up his blue blade that was lying on the small table next to the bed. “I lost my future, but I gained _opportunity_. I failed my grandfather, but now I had _friends_. I lost Black Dranzer,” he looked down, thumb bushing over the bit in the middle of the object, “but Dranzer returned to me.” He twitched a smile. “Nobody feared me, but you guys accepted me.”

“What if we had failed to stop Biovolt?”

Kai looked up at the small worried voice. Ray looked scared of the notion.

“Then I would be punished. Locked in a cell. Or worse,” he deadpanned, not even blinking so he wouldn’t risk breaking eye contact.

“But … but that’s awful!” Ray looked even more upset than before.

Kai shrugged and looked back down at Dranzer. “That is also no different than what I was used to. I got through it before. But if we succeeded …” Locking gaze with Ray’s again to make sure the other was listening intently to what he was saying. “Then I got to shape my own path from therefore on.”

As Ray only blinked in response, Kai elaborated the punch-line. “Those are the consequences I chose to live with.”

“Oh,” was all that came from Ray. The guy finally understanding.

This was Kai’s story. How he learned those precious lessons. Almost sacrificing himself and others to reach so far.

“Now, you decide for your own.”

With that, he got up and marched out of the room, heading for the bathroom down the hall. He needed to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. And he needed to give Ray some time to maul everything over. The choice between velvet covered life and the one of freedom was never easy.

* * *

**=[3 years and 4 months ago]=**

The instructions have been clear.

First, become best beyblader in Japan. Check. His last tournament proved that much. It was incidentally also his first official one (that he knew of), so the victory was that much greater – all he had to work on was what he was thought before coming to this place, which obviously counted as much, even though he had no real memory of it. But he was too good, his moves too precise, his mind too used to analyzing and calculating throughout the fight to be pure talent. Voice always ordering him around in his head. Not his grandfather’s voice, something even more sinister. He had some major training under his belt, that was obvious.

Second, get information about local bit-beasts. Well, he might as well check off that one as well, seeing how in a year he didn’t come across any but his own phoenix.

His grandfather never specified the ways to achieve those goals. So Kai naturally found his very own special way that got along with his personality. He didn’t follow orders from his peers. He didn’t do socialization beyond the battle. He didn’t have patience for journalists and other nuisances that buzzed around regular champions.

So, Kai founded a group of street-bladers. Called them BladeSharks, seeing as how they were a devious bunch who liked to steal and crush beyblades of the people they defeated. Kai didn’t care much about how or why they did what they did. He got information and the reputation that kept the fans away.

He also found the local Pits if he could call them that. The memory of the dark underground places where shady personas spun their beyblades against one another was something he could remember even through his clouded past. He remembered the rules – or rule more precisely. He remembered he was good at it. That he had to be in order to survive. And this city in Japan had nothing of the sort. Which made him feel as if he was in another world altogether, instead of another country.

There were many warehouses abandoned on the pier. More were build yearly, freshly painted, with better technology that helped unload and load the cargo. The old ones were still occasionally used for long-term storage, so they were kept around. Kai made two of those his own. The bigger one was the makeshift Pit. The smaller one was the BladeSharks center.

The year was coming around when Kai started feeling the tug on his mind again. The championships. Where he would have to defend his title. Where he, the strongest and most brutal of the bladers, would have to show his face in public. Where people would cower, and newbies would try to defeat him for fame and veterans for vengeance. Vengeance for their blades, their friends’ blades, their honor as he defeated them effortlessly last year.

It was all making him feel a bit on edge. Not so much he would show it to the outside world, but he had to keep his mind busy more than usual. Hence the longer walks and stricter rules. Some of the BladeSharks kept pushing the boundaries lately. At normal times he wouldn’t give a damn, but the championships meant that other bladers would come into town. It also meant his Grandfather will want to see him again – to show his dominance, to remind him of his job. Kai didn’t need to give the old man any additional ammo for scolding and perhaps punishment.

One of these longer stress-induced walks took him past the park where younger beybladers used to hang out. And he heard the familiar cries and yells that could mean only another attack of the street-bladers upon unsuspecting innocents.

Any other day he would keep walking, but something pulled him to the scene. A feel of foreboding. Like some great landmark in his life was going to happen.

And there he saw Carlos, one of the best of the BladeSharks, battling a boy a few years his junior. It wasn’t Carlos that made Kai pause. It was the other boy. Boy covered in bandages. He looked like he just went through some intense training. Something tugged on Kai’s memory. That look of determination in the eye. That growl coming from the throat. This wasn’t just a game of spinning tops for him. Some primal instinct kicked in and he wanted to make sure that that he would be seen and feared at the very first glance. That he had to assort dominance over this tactless person.

And just as he wanted to brush it all aside, thinking it was his stupid mind playing stupid tricks on him, something happened. Something that his irrational part said it would happen, but he still didn’t expect that it would actually come to pass.

Somehow determination and strong will beat experience and malice. Somehow, Carlos lost.


	6. … And always down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. Would have been sooner if you guys would be pestering me about it more XD

It was his roommate’s turn in the bathroom and Kai knew it would be a long time before he came back. Ray had his hair to order out and that always took at least an hour. Kai understood tradition and he respected the tiger for following it so determinately. Still, it was one of the most impractical traditions he ever heard of.

It did, however, give him some time for himself. It wasn’t yet 10pm and his inner clock, jetlag or no, told him he still had a few hours of fully functional body and mind. Being back here even pulled out his old nature of sleeping for no more than four hours. It always did; even if he worked on six ever since joining the BladeBreakers. It was just something in the cool and light air.

He didn’t plan on staring at the ceiling for half of the night, though. From where he lay, he turned his head, looking at the phone that rested on his bedside table. _I wonder …_

Kai sighed and reached out. Taking the device and stared at the screen, making a decision.

He scrolled to the familiar name and pondered for half a second, before determinately pushing the button for writing messages.

 _\- Tala? -_ Four letter word and a question mark. _Send._

He waited, but of course, there was no response. Letting the communication device fall onto his chest, he went to put his hands behind his head and stare back at the now-very-familiar ceiling, when there was a piping sound so loud that it echoed through the room. His breathing hitched at the sudden vibration just above the ribcage.

He scrambled around, quicker than he would normally. His heart racing at the strange intrusion, making his body twitch. He paused and forced it back to normality. Bringing the phone to his nose, he shut down the tone and opened the reply message.

_\- U better be in Russia. I am NOT paying for long-distance chats with u. -_

And smiled. Typical Tala. Bitchy as usual.

Kai inhaled, preparing himself mentally for this conversation. He went to typing, smothering the mix of annoyance and excitement he got from hearing from one person who could relate to his current need.

\- _Moscow. Arrived two days ago. You? -_

He waited patiently, knowing the reply would come as soon as it was written.

_\- St Petersburg. Tournament? -_

So, Tala was relatively close. And obviously, as Kai already knew from the news, he wasn’t attending the Beyblade Tournament. Which made sense, seeing how he turned nineteen this year. The rules were such, even if they went by ignored a couple of times. Also, the legal age in Russia demanded grown-up responsibilities. Tala had no family that would support him until he got a stable lifestyle, so he had to work one out fast.

Kai typed his answer. - _Yeah. Others? -_

The reply came a minute later. - _Spencer was deported to Belarus. Ian is living in Ufa. Bryan is terrorizing ppl somewhere in Siberia the last I heard. -_

So, the Blitzkrieg Boyz finally split up. Out to conquer the world in their own subtle way. Kai couldn’t help but smirk at the thought. But it also made him feel something strange inside. Some sort of longing. He felt stuck behind; still in the Beyblading community, even if it was for the last time this year.

But this was no time to worry about the future. He contacted Tala for a specific reason.

_\- I have a question. -_

_\- Shoot. -_

How to start? He was never one for small talk. And neither was Tala. So he followed the wolf’s advice and simply wrote: - _The Pits? -_

He waited for the reply. And waited. Tala was either writing a long message or pondering his answer. Will he lie? Will he simply refuse to reply? It was a touchy subject for the former Abbey trainees.

Kai went to pinch the bridge of his nose. Perhaps he should forget about it and just go check on his own. Why was he even asking Tala? He wanted to make sure, but he could also just be extra careful. Blinking, he decided that the stain on the ceiling reminded him of some obscure map. United States perhaps? That one looked like Texas.

Finally, the device in his hand vibrated. He brought it back to his face and opened the received message.

_\- Abandoned the last time I heard. Police got in. Scared everybody away. -_

Kai blinked at the short answer. So, Tala didn’t know what to write. At least the redhead’s phone wasn’t thrown at the wall and broken. He frowned at the meaning of words, though. _\- People could be back by now._ -

The short answer came right away. - _Nope. -_

Kai frowned at that. - _Happened before. Why not?_ -

He counted the seconds. At thirty, the device buzzed.

_\- Before there was Abbey, Kai. -_

Right. It wasn’t that Kai forgot about that, it was just … He was a kid when he last visited the Russian Pits. Never thinking how high a percentage of Abby boys was amongst the bladers there. Not really caring at the time. Winning was everything that mattered. Tala was part of that community longer. He probably knew what he was talking about.

He didn’t reply, but two minutes later his phone vibrated with another message. He looked up, curious at any additional information Tala would send out willingly and without being asked to.

It wasn’t information.

_\- U r still gonna check them out. -_

It wasn’t even a question. Yes, Kai planned to go visit the Pits, no matter if there were people there or not. He just wanted information to be prepared. This was Russia after all. He never came across a more brutal underground. It was why he grew up to be the best.

Wondering about the differences of street-blading in different nations, he felt the phone go off yet again. This was the third message in a row from Tala without him replying. Kai doubted he would suddenly decide to start sharing anything useful. It wasn’t Tala’s way.

_\- Just watch ur step. How long will u be in Russia? -_

Kai frowned. A warning. From Tala. The wolf must be getting soft. But then again, Tala did hate the Abbey - and consequentially, the Pits – with a passion. Wouldn’t wish it upon his worst enemy. Kai didn’t know if he even qualified into the enemy sector. He doubted he was in a friend part, but at least a close acquaintance. Neither he nor the redhead had many of those, so any small thing counted, right? He was certainly an ex-teammate, but what did _that_ mean?

And why did Tala want to know how long will he be staying?

\- _Week. You coming to Moscow? -_

The reply came in the next ten seconds of him pressing the _Send_ button.

_\- Nope. -_

Kai nodded, understanding. It probably had nothing to do with being busy, and everything to do with the place. Since what happened not twelve months ago, Blitzkrieg Boyz avoided Moscow if they could. Boris showing up two times in three years made them weary. Made _him_ weary as well, but like he told Ray, BladeBreakers were a stubborn bunch and hell-bent on keeping Kai out of Boris’ claws. And even though they probably couldn’t stop Boris if he was persistent enough, it made Kai more likely to punch the guy in the face, now that he knew he could return to his old team whenever.

Tala probably wished to end their chat there, seeing as there were no additional messages with questions following. Still, Kai felt he should inform the redhead.

So he wrote: - _I’ll be back after the tournament. -_

\- _Why? -_

It was obvious, wasn’t it? Or perhaps it wasn’t. Tala never asked, so perhaps he didn’t know of Kai’s age. Another thing that made it so easy to talk to the wolf. He accepted you based on your skills and didn’t judge you for anything else.

\- _Turning 18._ -

_\- Oh. Right. -_

And Tala understood.

Inheritance. Voltiere’s part of Hiwatari Enterprises would become Kai’s responsibility in reality. Right now, the company managed without any actual leaders. The brains of it consisting of voting sectors, which couldn’t make any large decisions without Hiwatari’s signature. They weren’t getting Voltiere’s, seeing as how the man was imprisoned in Japan. And besides, Kai’s grandfather’s word meant nothing anymore. Until Kai himself became the official part of the Enterprises, the company couldn’t make any major advancing leaps. He was noted as heir, the whole ordeal skipping his father after the dispute so many years ago that basically left Kai without parents and at the mercy of his Grandfather and BioVolt.

Kai would have to come back to Russia in just three months, and he would be alone. For the first time in so many years.

That made him feel strange.

His fingers moved on their own accord. - _See you then? -_

The reply came at once. - _Sure thing. -_

Just like that? No insults or brush-offs. He even expected his question to go by completely ignored.

He knew Tala wasn’t after the money. He got himself a pretty good deal using his genetically altered state to be part of the Russian force. His living expenses were paid for and the redhead wasn’t a materialistic kind of guy. That meant that he said yes because Kai asked him.

How did they end up _here_? Sure, Kai felt a pang of something when he saw Tala lying in the hospital bed so many months ago. It was a blow on that dead spark inside of him. It made him go and fight Brooklyn again, giving his all, almost completely destroying himself in the process. Dranzer giving her life for him instead. 

Before that, he and Tala were teammates, using one another. The redhead using Kai to win the championship. Kai using Tala to get to battle Tyson.

Before that, they were ignoring each other quite expertly.

Before that they were rivals.

Before that, they were teammates who really couldn’t stand one another.

Before that they forgot about the other’s existence.

Years before that … when they were both part of the Abbey …

 

**=[7 years ago]=**

Moscow. Russia.

Ten-year-old Kai was lead into the Pits for the first time. He was in a group of five others his age. Each got their first real beyblade and they held them close as if afraid someone might run up to them and pull the newly acquired tools out of their grip. But that was just the thing. They earned these blades with their hard work. Given to them today.

And today most of them would lose them as well.

Losing a blade meant going back to the upper levels of the Abbey. Back to the fresh meat. Monotonous training day in and day out. Forbidden to leave the same cells for many months. Open for bullying by anyone and everyone. Sleeping on the hard floor. Eating bland food. Living without respect.

The Pits were similar to the Abbey in some ways and yet completely different in other.

Both were made of stone. Both were cold and dark. Both were filled with young people there only for one reason: beyblading.

But Abbey was made of long hallways with cells on each side and large training rooms. The Pits were one space alone. Not even resembling any room. It was an old sewage system build underground. Remarkably clean since the concrete network was replaced with more modern pipes. Yet mold that fought the cold could still be seen on stone. The Pits themselves were at the cylindrical crossroads of the system, where all canal levels met. Most of the passages were free of water, although some of it still clung to the bottommost drains. Water from rain and melted snow.

BioVolt preserved the place. It was convenient; spacious and away from prying eyes. Also, Kai already knew that the whole multiple level system came into play as well.

Currently, they were standing on the topmost walkway. There were no railings, so one needed to be careful when looking downwards. And look they did; leaning over the left and right edges, trying to catch the battles happening below.

Each walkway had a couple of their own dishes for battle. The bridges seemed to crisscross one another from where Kai could see. Some of the pathways new, some broken off and collapsed into the rubble way below in the water. Over and below they went like some very complex multi-story maze. Here and there he could see a ladder connecting the levels. Children his age and size would have problems climbing those as the rungs were quite far apart.

“Kai!” The boy jumped away from the edge and looked up at the man who was waiting with the rest of his group a little away. “Careful! You wouldn’t want to fall.”

No, he really wouldn’t want that. If he landed just a few bridges below, he would have broken something – probably his legs. If he would fall even farther, he would be dead. And how would he reach his goal if he were dead?

So Kai hurried to his group as the man started talking.

“This is where your first test will be. Some of these kids you see are from the Abbey, this is true. You will find most of these at the lower levels. But some people are simply beybladers from the streets. So, keep in mind that each person could have a completely different training than you had.”

A united nod from the five boys surrounding the man.

“You will start here at the first level. Win your fight here and you can advance a level down. But lose, and you lose your beyblade. One level down, a loss lets you keep your beyblade, but makes you move a level upwards. Also, every loss suspends you from fighting in the Pits for two weeks. You get additional training at the Abbey.”

Kai almost snorted at that. It would be very unwise to do so in front of his overseer. He would get the same ‘additional training’ than the man promised to the losers: beatings, cuttings, whippings, burnings, a swim in freezing water, being forced to sit or stand in very uncomfortable positions for hours, lack of food and water or rotten food and piss for water …

He still felt the cuts and bruises from last week on his back.

So, the only way to get out of that is to win.

“After the win, you can stick around on the same level until you beat all the dishes or advance on right away. If you win once, you can finish for the day. Every third win allows you to skip the visit to the Pits two times.”

The visits to the Pits were at completely random times. This skipping option could become useful if he wasn’t feeling at his full strength.

“Once you reach the bottom and hold your ground for three months without losing, you become the Abbey’s Elite. What follows is the honing of your skills through specialized training and of course obtaining your very own, perfectly compatible bit-beast.”

Kai’s eyes widened at that information. This was exactly what he was here for. His grandfather’s words to the director of the Abbey, Boris Balkov, were: “I shall come for the boy when he becomes an Elite.” To which Boris only sneered, but Kai was there and well aware that his grandfather had meant it.

And now, he was staring down at the finally visible goal. Until this very moment, he didn’t know exactly _how_ one became an Elite. The Abbey only trained him and educated him in general knowledge and beyblading tactics.

A boy next to Kai _ooooh_ -ed loudly as he stared over the edge, presumably at the same spot as Kai. The very lowest bridge. He could tell it was the lowest thanks to the dishes built into it being twice the normal size and bright red, while others were of more dull colors.

“That’s Tala!” Kai’s peer said.

Kai never heard of the name, yet he could guess the grown-up of the group knew who the boy was talking about as he joined them, smirking into the depths proudly. “Ah, yes. Tala Ivanov, our most prized member. Only twelve and already at the bottom level. He only has to hold his ground for another month. As you can see, he’s quite determined to succeed.”

The information gave Kai the idea who they were talking about. A scrawny redhead, shorter and younger than any other fighter on that level. He was currently battling a boy who was twice his size. And he was winning with ease.

“Oh, also,” Kai’s supervisor spoke as he just remembered, “once you reach the bottom level, you have to attend the Pit daily without skipping. The Abbey’s responsibilities take a step back for the duration of your stay there, be it for one fight you lose or all three months. You get well fed and enough time to rest, but you have to attend and stay at the Pits ten hours daily.”

And this Tala Ivanov has been visiting the Pit ten hours per day for two months, managing never to lose to those just reaching the bottom level. No wonder the dish he prowled had so many onlookers and yet so few people actually willing to fight.

And if Kai wanted to leave this place he would have to do the same.

_Well, I better get started then._


	7. For me this is the only game in town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone pestered me. I got a mail ... and I remembered ...   
> This is how you do it, people. It's COMMUNITY work.   
> Happy holidays ... I guess. I'm lightly salty during them - having no family and all my friends being busy with theirs.  
> But at least there are books and fanfiction.  
> Hugs for everyone

Two hours. That was how long he stared at the ceiling after the lights were turned off for the night.

Ray came back about ten minutes after Kai and Tala stopped corresponding. His hair hastily dried, his eyes red from either too much soapy water or not enough sleep. Kai just sent him to bed with a glance, the ominous sound of his book hitting the top of the drawers cutting off any conversation Ray may have been thinking about having.

The tiger didn’t object. He just snuggled into the covers of his own bed and wished him a quiet: “G’ night.”

Kai switched off the lamp and laid back, looking up again, watching the city lights dance on the stainy surface.

Ray was a light sleeper sometimes, and two hours of pondering gave Kai enough time to make sure the teen was completely out of it.

The air was pushed out through his nose as he silently weighed pros and cons.

He couldn’t sleep. Thinking about the Pits and Tala and Abbey and all those days he spent down in the labyrinth of wet stones and mold and cold. Thinking about how he really wished to visit the place and touch those walls on his own again, to make sure … Of what, he did not know. Not really being able to sneak away from his current team during the day worried him. They would notice. Especially now that they were so close to the onslaught of battles. There wasn’t any Russian team in the Finals this year, but that didn’t mean squat. Abbey’s claws went far and wide. BioVolt never had but one facility. His grandfather wouldn’t bet on the odds of it being shut down so easily. And Boris proved that history could come crashing back when they least expected it.

Kai sighed and cursed in his mind. _To hell with this! I can’t sleep._

He got up, got dressed in silence, and left without a sound. Making a stop in the bathroom to apply his trademark war-paint. He’ll just have to be back by morning.

**=[some time later]=**

The old entrance was sealed shut. It took him long enough to get here, seeing as how the buses were rarer between one and five-thirty in the morning. He didn’t want to descend into the tunnels of metro and refused to pay an absurd fee for a cab. So he walked. He needed the night air to clear his mind anyways.

He smashed at the lock few times, trying to determine if it was indeed wielded shut or just locked. It didn’t budge an inch. All the while, he felt a presence of the Abbey at the back of his thoughts like a compass needle pointing in its direction, even though the building he grew up in was at least a ten minute walk away.

Shrugging in defeat, Kai went forth in search of some other entrance. All he had to do was get into the old city sewers. All the drains sooner or later led to the Pits.

He walked amongst the sleeping homeless and still awake shady characters - some of them dealers of this and that, some of them simply night-people, and hopefully some of them street-bladers. Even if the Pits were empty, everybody knew where they were, and if they weren’t exactly from the Abbey - very few characters were these days, since it shut down - they had to know of some other entrances. The Abbey one was always guarded.

He asked around. Got told off, sent away, too annoyed already to talk to the drunk person on the verge of vomiting. About an hour later he got the information he needed from three characters who seemed to be just hanging out, staring longingly at the entrance of some night club they were probably banned to enter. They were young, but of age. Since they gave such clear directions, Kai figured they were once street-bladers themselves.

He was warned that it was empty, that he’d find nothing there. But if he didn’t believe them he could just go ahead and check it out for himself. Kai planned to do just that.

As soon as he found the steel-bar door, he saw there was no padlock on it. They opened with a screech, and he decided to leave it open. Stepping into the darkness inside.

“Come on, Dranzer,” he whispered, removing the blade from its pocket and tapping on the bit of the phoenix.

At once it started emitting orange light, bright enough to show the way. He followed the compass in his head - the one that still pointed towards the Abbey - and calculated where he needed to turn to get to his original destination. His path lead him to climb some of the ladders, jump ditches, and then finally he ended up on the edge with a hundred foot drop beyond.

Lifting Dranzer and scanning the large area, he tried to coordinate himself. Memories from so many years ago serving as the only reference. He counted the bridges up to where he stood and then up. Fifteen of them all. His closest one was the  seventh level. Aiming the light at the walls, he noticed the familiar graffiti on places where a human hand could reach, as well as on those for which he had no clue how one could manage to get to. Over the paint, old scratches in the concrete could be seen. Like scars; thin, wide, some breaking off part of the wall.

Grabbing at the fence of the leader at the side of the drain to maintain his balance, he leaned out. Lifting his blade high above his head. Sure enough, directly above him he could see steel lettering, each one the height of an adult man. He couldn’t read what it said from his position, but he didn’t need to. The saying was burned into his brain in Russian as well as in English and Japanese.

Considering the writing and the position of the bridges, he pushed away from the ladder and squinted at the left part of the large cylinder that was the Pits. There were precarious looking stairs with a missing railing. On each floor a switch was implanted in the wall.

Pulling out his launcher, Kai inserted Dranzer in its rightful place and shot it out with a yell.

For a moment he was afraid that his shot was too weak and gravity would win over. But Dranzer shot across the wall. Growling, he pulled at the energy within himself, connected it to the blade that darted forward with amazing speed. Adrenaline rush swarmed over, steadying the nerves.

Reaching the lever across the wall, the blade swirled downwards, until it stopped almost completely right underneath it. Suddenly surging upwards, hitting the iron lever on the way, making it click upward, slightly bending the metal.

Calling Drazner back and snatching it out of the air as it flew past him, Kai crossed his arms and leaned back on the driest part of the wall, waiting in the darkness. Slight buzz now emitting from somewhere in the room, echoing through the silent Pits.

A minute passed. Kai waited.

With a zapping sound, a bulb on the high floor turned on. It’s range not nearly enough to compete with otherwise complete darkness. But with each passing second more lights came to life. Some emitting yellow light, some white, some strong, some weak, some flickering, some burned out and not turning on at all. The colorful graffiti and beydishes stood out from the gray environment, telling the story of what went down here so many years ago.

Kai stepped to the edge again, scanning the area, noting some newly collapsed bridges, suddenly dodging as a bat decided to use the drain he was standing in as an escape route from the light. Slowly he returned to the ladder, descending onto the bridge below. There were cracks visible in the nearest beydish. That and the missing chunk on the very edge. Kai pulled out his beyblade, pondering.

It was impossible to determine why he really came here. But the feeling that he just had to was too strong to ignore. It didn’t give him any answers. He didn’t have any questions. He just … needed to do this. Be here. A feeling he knew from his battles, but not really from anything outside them.

Looking up, he counted the bridges above, then searched for the rusty ladder that would bring him one up. Once at the top, he remembered walking here as a small boy when everything seemed so huge. It didn’t look that immensely large now, but the size of the place was still impressive. The biggest Pits he ever came across. Finding the smallest beydish on that floor, he send out his beyblade, sighing.

_See, Dranzer, this is where I came to be._

He was thirteen when he reached the bottom bridge. It didn’t really take him three years; the visits to the Pits could be far and wide in between. Sometimes two times a week, sometimes nothing for few months. It depended on the blader, the mood of the grown-ups, and the current population of the Pits. Then there was that incident with Black Dranzer that banned Kai out of the Pits for a year. Later, Kai just reached the bottom and held out for those three months when his grandfather came to pick him up. He didn’t get any Elite training. He didn’t get his personal, especially for him created bit-beast.

_Not that I would want one._ He looked at the spinning Dranzer wondering if any of the forced out spirits would fight for him so strongly after he betrayed them for the Black Dranzer. Would Wolborg fight for Tala after it was cast aside?

Dranzer refused to give up. It was something that BladeBreakers and his bit-beast had in common. They trusted one another and the group even if there was a weak link in the chain. It could be Ray’s betrayal, it could be his own, it could be Max not believing in himself or Tyson saying things in anger, Hillary being hurt by whatever it was, Daichi being clueless about the civilized world, or Kenny not knowing how fight their newest enemy. It didn’t matter, the others were there for them, believing they could pull through. Even when left behind they would be waiting for your return. Building Kai’s blade and leaving it on Tala’s hospital bed knowing him well enough to visit and expecting him to come back, _knowing_ he would win his BEGA fight, even if he already lost once. And Dranzer, risking her life for Kai, dying and then finding her way back at her rebirth. The phoenix could go anywhere, chose another blade - another blader - but no, she came back to Kai Hiwatari; the traitor, the fighter, the ‘hard-headed cold-hearted sourpuss’ as they had often called him.

“Why do you stick around?”

Dranzer’s bit only glowed in response.

He ended up spinning Drazner in every beydish he fought without her so many years ago. Traveling from the highest floor to the lowest one, not even bypassing those dishes that were broken by time. It didn’t’ take a lot of space to spin a beyblade and he knew how to use his environment no matter how dangerous for a said blade it was.

Letting Dranzer go, hitting the one before last, he heard echoes traveling through the caverns. He must have been here for a while, the city seemed to be waking up. Random noises of people moving and some kids probably sticking close to one of the entrances. He picked up Dranzer, jumping to the lowest bridge, aiming for the red bowl, deciding it was time to go back before his own team woke up.

Launching the blade with force, a clunck of metal startled him. He caught Dranzer as the hit reversed its trajectory.

Looking up, he was met with a pair of golden eyes and a cat grin that made him groan inwardly. _Just great_ , he thought sarcastically. He had really hoped he could avoid this.

“So, this is where you disappeared to!” Ray said. His voice echoed through the walls, making him startle himself and he looked around twitching. “Echo?” He used a really annoying pitch of voice and it bounced back, making Kai pinch his nose-bridge before he said something mean.

“What are you doing here?” he asked instead. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“It’s 8:30, I was supposed to be having breakfast.”

Kai’s eyes widened at that. He had been here for _how long already?_ “What are you doing here?” he repeated.

Ray shrugged, jumping down on Kai’s level. “Scouting.”

“Scouting?”

“Yeah, you know. Making sure the others are on the right path.”

Kai’s blood froze over. “ _Others?_ ”

As on cue a scream sounded from the drain, flowing into the Pits and bouncing of the walls, making Ray look up in astonishment again. “This place has strange acoustics.”

Kai blinked, getting more and more frustrated. A growl crawled out of his chest in displeasure. “How did you find me? I left my -” He cut his mouth off before he would end up pointing out that he took every precaution to avoid this exact situation.

Ray heard, of course. “Left your phone on the bed? I know. It was the first thing we noticed.” He smirked self-satisfied, the bastard. “You think that if you stop Chief from tracking you down the old fashioned way that we would just give up?”

Kai scowled, looking away. “One can hope.”

“KAI! YOU JACKASS!” Cue: Tyson.

Ray groaned, covering his sensitive ears as the world champ started screaming obscenities out to the world, not even noticing that most of them couldn’t be understood, seeing how the words overlapped with the ones bouncing of the walls.

 Kai just rolled his eyes, waiting it out. Staring at the boy trying to climb down from his drain, almost falling and killing himself three times before reaching some solid ground. _One can hope_ , he repeated in his mind.

Following the flailing teen were Chief and Max. The blonde helped the genius carry the laptop while descending onto the bridge below.

“HEY! YOU ASSHAT!” Tyson kept yelling, now closer. Climbing down the bridges to the lowest one where grinning Ray and frowning Kai waited. “I had to get up at _eight_! AT EIGHT! Just because your royal ass decided to leave without any -” Tyson yelped as his feet didn’t find purchase on the missing rung and he fell down onto his own royal ass.

Kai had the urge to look at Ray, pitifully asking: _Why?_ He knew he would only be laughed at, seeing as the tiger already got the kick only out of his face-expression.

Max hurried past Tyson, climbing the last ladder, jumping off before he even reached the ground. “You can’t leave in the middle of the night without any note, Kai. We were very worried.”

Of course they were. They were always worried about him. Max especially. But then again, Max was worried about _everything,_ from world hunger to Kenny’s sneezing. The only thing that sometimes bypassed this worry was Tyson and his antics.

Kai noticed they were all waiting for a response, so he crossed his arms protectively and shrugged. “Hn. I didn’t want you to follow me.” That much should have been obvious.

Ray snorted. “It’s like you don’t even know us.”

Max scratched the back of his head, “Hehe, you should know better by now, Kai.”

Kai frowned, thinking. “I left my phone. How did you guys track me?”

Kenny finally reached the bottom, carefully taking Dizzy back from Max. “You left your phone, Kai,” he said and promptly shut up as Kai glared at him.

“What Kenny means is, we kinda went through your messages,” Max continued as a heavy body landed next to them.

“You what?” Initiating his Death-Glare, Kenny yelped jumping back. Max giggled nervously as he took a precautionary step away. Ray bit his lip.

“You’ve been conspiring with the enemy again, you Traitor!” Tyson yelled uncomfortably close.

“What?” Kai asked, confused now. He wiped some of Tyson’s sprayed spit off his scarf. Some extra training for the guy later, no doubt.

“Tyson! Tala isn’t in this year’s tournament.” Ray pointed out.

A pause, then, “Oh.” Blinking at Kai’s stare, Tyson took off his cap, straightened it and then put it back on. “Well, you conversed with my buddy Tala behind our backs.”

“Your buddy?” Kai asked, lifting his eyebrows. Did this guy have some mayor bipolar issues or what?

“Yeah, you know. Since last year …” Tyson trailed off. “Never mind, you still made us get up early and track you through some dirty sewers! What is this place, anyways?”

Kai sighed, closing his eyes, cutting off his glare for the sake of regaining his sanity.

“The Pits,” Ray said, making Kai look up in astonishment. The tiger shrugged. “It’s what you called it in the message.”

_I really need to stop conversing in English when I could  use Russian._

“It looks like some sort of dark blading place,” Max mused looking up the structure, taking it all in.

“Is it part of the Abbey?” Ray asked the dreaded question that seemed to have been on all their minds.

Kai shook his head. “No. Related, but not part of it. It’s a blading underground. _Was_. Or whatever.”

“Like street-blading?” Kenny said, admiring the graffiti closest to them. A picture of two blades and two white bit-beasts in a fight. A wolf and a bear.

“It’s the center of it, yes.”

“You came here when you were at the Abbey?”

Kai nodded, admiring the surroundings with them. Somehow feeling as if he was seeing it through someone else’s eyes rather than his own. Perhaps trying to figure what they saw, being in a place like this for the first time and without any experience beforehand. “We were sent here at times. Going through the levels to advance. Reach the last one and you get an Elite training.” _Sure, why not tell them. They put their noses into everything anyways._

He saw Tyson craning his neck to see the steel writing so high up.

“Again, how did you track me?” _So I can avoid it in the future._ “There is no internet data on Pits as far as I know.”

“Well, it turns out that asking if anybody saw a proud seventeen-year-old with blue markings on his face, a white scarf, searching for something called the Pits, gives out better results,” Ray muttered, looking down over the edge at the water gathered on the bottom.

“You just went from a person to person, asking if anyone saw me?” It was a wonder these idiots were still alive.

“That, and offered fifty somethings to the guy gave us exact directions to this place.”

“You guys are just asking to get mugged.” Not that it was his problem. He was just saying.

“Nah. We made sure to look menacing,” Tyson said, stepping backwards to get a better view of the large writing. “Gave our best Kai-glare.”

Kai snorted at that.

“We tried calling Tala, but he wasn’t answering.”

_And if he would, you’d get an earful of a bitchy redhead._ _Probably psychologically scar you for years to come._ Tala wasn’t a morning person. But then again, Tala just wasn’t _any_ person, be it morning, evening, night or day.

“WHAT DOES IT SAY!?” Tyson suddenly yelled in frustration.

“It’s in Russian, Ty,” Max tried to calm the boy down.

Kai sighed, giving up. “There’s an English translation right below it.”

Tyson grunted in acknowledgment. “No … win-winners … la-losers …”

_“No winners, losers. Only those who finish the game,”_ Kai supplied, before the other teen got an aneurism.

“What does _that_ mean?” Tyson was absurdly interested in the saying.

“It’s a motto of the Pits everywhere.”

“What do you mean, _everywhere_?” Kenny asked, his voice a squeak.

Kai looked at him, frowning. Was this kid for real? He was a genius, he had to know that there were such places. There was one in Tokyo. The Bey City was the only place, he ever visited, without one before Kai came along and fixed the issue.

Surprisingly, Max was the one who supplied an answer, “Well, New York has something similar. It’s called the Underground. Rick bladed there before joining my tag-team. Seeing as how popular his street-fights are, I suppose there’s one in every major city.”

“But shouldn’t this place be … I don’t know, on the _streets_?” Tyson asked, growling at the whole structure as if it somehow offended him.

Kai had an inkling, a theory about Tyson’s frustration. There was a whole other world of blading the existence of which the great Tyson Granger clearly missed. He could have been the world champion when it came to fancy stadiums and official fights, but he had no clue how the things went down in the Pits. “It depends, Tyson,” Kai said, sighing as he stepped to the ladder and started climbing up again.

“What do you mean?”

“It depends on the law, the people, the city, other factors like the Abbey …”

“Where are you going?” Max asked, not moving from where he was standing.

“ _We_ are going onto the top level.”

Tyson groaned in response.

“Why?” Ray asked.

“You guys seemed to be interested in the time I spent here,” Kai replied when he reached the bridge above, peeking over the edge down at them. “I might as well show you.”

Three pairs of eyes sparkled at the idea. Kenny hurriedly pushed his laptop into Ray’s hands and started the climb back up. _Give them a piece of my past, and they go right for it._ Curious little lot they were. Will he ever get used to them accepting him over and over again like that?

“A tour!” Max jumped, following Kenny.

“If you wanna call it that.”

They climbed up. Sometimes following one another, other times one would run down the bridge to the second ladder, so they wouldn’t be kept too far behind.

“I can’t believe anyone would battle in a dump like this,” Tyson muttered, reaching the edge just as Kai did, the ladders on this floor quite close to each other.

“Tyson,” Kai sighed. “This was the only way we could. And if you wanted to continue, you had to win.”

That took time and energy that exhausted even the most hyperactive of children. It took tact and strength and sometimes even surges of insanity. It took discipline and power to save one’s emotions for the battle worthy of them. It took turning all potential alliances into enemies. It took training and punishment for failure.

For Kai it took moving downwards, without letting himself return to the upper level even once. It took more than three years out of Kai’s childhood to become something that could be compared to that redhead he saw on the first day. To become better. To shot down through the levels as if he was above such battles. As if the only that mattered would happen on the bottom one. To show no mercy. To become worthy of his name and of Black Dranzer.

And once he knew better, to become what his team knew him to be and what Dranzer herself trusted in.

_And because of all that, for me, this is the only game in town._


End file.
